Animal Form
by xStaticxTelevisionx
Summary: Boris is getting tired of Alice always pushing him away, so when he sees her pick up a wounded animal one day, he gets an idea. An amazing, brilliant, and possibly life-threatening idea. T!
1. Chapter 1

**I am totally not procrastinating New Game or the one-shot series with the dragon kids. I'm just conveniently getting different ideas during the only time I can write... But please. R &R! I live for reviews...I need my fix man...I NEED MY FIX XD This is based off the manga and not the game, btw. So Alice has her own bedroom. :P**

 **-Static**

 **/*\**

As the cat had suspected, his little prank caused quite the ruckus. She was shrieking and yelling and demanding that he let her down, and though on most of these little outings her protests were more than amusing, he wasn't feeling too into it today.

During his other tricks, her voice wasn't so close to his ears, and right now she wouldn't stop _screaming_. Did the woman want to deafen him?

"Alice," The cat eventually spoke up, "Will you please, _please_ , lower your voice?" He asked, strained, leaning as far away from her as he could on his respective branch. Though the girl was simultaneously annoyed and entranced by the appendages that were his ears, she never really seemed to come to terms with the fact that they were exceedingly sensitive, just like any other cat. It wouldn't be much longer until his sense of hearing dulled, and if he could, he wanted to prevent that. For a moment, his plea was acknowledged and she muted her voice, though only for a moment. However when she spoke again, she had indeed quieted her volume.

"If you want me to be quieter," she growled, "Then you must let me down from the tree."

The pink-haired man only laughed, his momentary reprieve forgotten, "But Alice," he countered, "You have to admit, the view from here is pretty cool."

The Cheshire Cat had dragged the Foreigner up a tree. The tallest he could find. It hadn't been a premeditated action. He had come across her while she walking through the forest - it looked like she was headed towards the castle - and at the spur of the moment, he had decided to sneak up on her. It had been all to easy to step lightly up to her back, and then quickly grab her waist and twirl her around. After throwing her over his shoulder, her face buried in the pink fluff of his scarf, he strutted off, thinking of all the things he could do to toy with her.

It hadn't taken him long to figure out the perfect plan. It would appease his immediate need for mischief, and she couldn't be mad at him because this particular "prank" really wasn't all that bad.

After he decided some tree-climbing would be fun, he thought of the destination, because he knew that Alice absolutely loved the view of Wonderland from the roof of the Clock Tower.

"...I suppose," she conceded, her eyes taking in every bit of the surrounding landscape, "But that does not change the fact that I am terrified to look down. Boris, couldn't you have found a slightly shorter tree?"

And it was true. Alice was not equipped to be climbing trees, in her poofy blue dress and her delicate Mary-Janes. If she were to attempt to get down by herself, she would fall, and if she fell from this height, almost one hundred feet in the air...

Game over.

Boris only laughed. "Alice, don't worry," he said, "I'm a cat. I'm one of the most agile creatures in the world. I won't let you fall." And this was spoken with the utmost pride. His back straightened, his arms crossed, his ears had perked, and he looked down at her with his eyelids half lowered and a tiny smirk adorning his face. This here was a man who was completely and utterly sure of his abilities, and Alice couldn't help but to momentarily admire his self-confidence. This definitely wasn't narcissism - she'd seen enough of that from Blood to identify it - but she still had her doubts.

She made the mistake of glancing down, and it didn't take long for the vertigo to hit her. She squeezed her eyes shut and buried her face into the end of Boris's scarf/boa thing. She would not fall, she would not fall, she would not fall...

"...I still want to be let down." She pleaded softly, and the cat sighed.

"Keep your eyes closed."

/*\

Even after Boris had set her down safe and sound on the forest floor, she was still spitting mad. She called him several insults, and lectured him about how rude it was to make people late getting home from their errands. Why she was running errands at Heart Castle, he didn't know, but nonetheless, he was quite displeased with the way things had turned out.

Sure, he always loved a good prank, but he had been hoping for a far different reaction this time.

He was prepared to leave, more than irritated, when he heard an alarmed and frightened cry.

Alice?!

Almost instantly, Ace came to mind. He had wanted to brutally murder Alice, and had nearly killed the cat before changing his mind.

Could he have done so again?

Boris raced through the woods, hoping against hope that Alice had not run into any real danger. When he arrived, gun in hand, breathing heavily, he froze at what he saw.

Alice, thankfully, was not in danger. Instead, she was kneeling in the undergrowth near a white cat. A cat with a broken leg it seemed. It was meowing it's protests as she attempted to get closer to it.

"Come on," she growled as it swiped at her, claws out and hissing, "I'm trying to _help_ you." She implored,

Boris had backed away before he was seen and had watched the spectacle from his hiding place in a bush. Alice was there for almost an hour, and eventually the cat - a normal one from the looks of it - had finally accepted that this pesky human girl was not going to leave it alone. It resigned itself to it's fate when it at last allowed the blonde to gently scoop it up in her arms and...hug it to her chest.

Ever since Ace had pointed out that Alice had a heart and not a clock, the cat found himself wanting to hear it. He had tried several times, to press his ears to her chest to listen, but for some reason, she always shrieked and pushed him back, often committing physical violence upon his person for it. It would be quite the trick to get her to peacefully comply with such an action.

And she was bestowing this favoritism to an animal. One who could not understand the amazing privilege she had granted it.

Then Boris realized something. Alice viewed the animals - the non-humanoid ones - as innocent creatures. She always thought Boris's motives for his all-too-intimate closeness had more to do with hormones than curiosity, and though that might have been true to some degree, his primary objective was to listen to her heartbeat. Sure, the physical fight she would put up was fun on occasion, like a game he had yet to crack, but for once he wanted no opposition. He wanted to hear the thrum of her heart while she scratched him behind his ears, and to feel the warmth radiating off her skin as it slowly put him to sleep.

Watching the way she cradled the wounded creature as she walked away, Boris felt an idea creep it's way into his mind. Possibly the greatest, craziest, most magnificent idea to ever come to him in his young life.

/*\

Boris spent the next week staking out the forest, using whatever excuse he could to bail from the Amusement Park. He knew Gowland would be much more easy-going on the subject of his absence if he just told him that it had something to do with Alice, but this time...

This would be entirely between him and her. No one outside the two of them would know about this. Hell, if this went as planned, even _she_ would be left without a clue.

That was when he heard a sound from the bushes, and a soft humming that he recognized as belonging to only one person.

He had finally managed to cross paths with her, and now it was showtime.

Quickly, the cat readjusted his fluffy pink boa, and morphed.

As much as Boris preferred his humanoid form, it would hinder his immediate endeavors. Not wanting to be too obvious, he hid under a bush, and made just a bit of noise. A little rustling to get her attention, and then a pained mew, to demonstrate safety on her part. A concerned expression decorated her face, and she knelt to the bush to inspect the sounds. Perfect, she'd fallen right into his trap.

/*\

At first, Alice felt a little afraid when she heard the sound emanating from the greenery. The fear vanished into concern when she heard the meowing. It sounded as though it was in pain, and as she knelt down to investigate the bush, she came face-to-face with, of course, a cat. Not a beast of the woods, but a normal, smaller house cat.

It was a fluffy tabby - it's features faintly reminiscent of a ragdoll - and in the strangest of colors. It wasn't the usual orange or black or even white. It was entirely _pink_ , and it had the prettiest purple stripes. It's ears were flattened to it's head, and it's tail was curled protectively around it's body. Alice could see no blood or blemishes, but it was refusing to put weight on it's left paw. The moment she looked into it's wide amber eyes, a familiar shade of liquid gold, the pupil narrowing as it glared at her suspiciously, she fell absolutely in love.

"Here kitty, kitty," She cooed. For a moment it looked almost...disgusted? But just as quick as the expression came, it vanished. The woman wondered if she might have imagined it. The cat crept forward ever so slightly. Alice suspected that this animal - unlike last weeks patient - was tame, as it looked far too clean to be wild, and she gently coaxed it out of the bush. She called to it in a sweet and happy voice and she wiggled her fingers at it ever so slightly. She watched it limp closer to her.

Eventually, it was close enough that she could sweep it into her arms in a fleeting motion. It protested loudly initially, extending it's claws, but upon realizing that she was holding it and not hurting it, it relaxed. She held it close to her chest and it started purring, entirely contented.

Yes. If she could get away with it, she was definitely going to keep it.

"Come on," she sighed, started to walk back towards the Clock Tower. "I am so lucky Julius is oblivious. Otherwise, I would have a seriously hared time hiding you in my room."

/*\

Boris had seen Alice's room before, but never from such a perspective. He had gotten what he wanted. Alice had allowed him to hear her heartbeat with no issue, on the way back to the tower. So why did he want to continue this little trick for any longer?

"Alright kitty," she stated, gently setting him on her bed. "I need to take a look at that paw."

Wait. Which paw was supposed to be injured?

Immediately, she made to grab for the left. Since Boris was playing at a regular cat, he would have to behave suspiciously of her intentions. It was already disadvantageous enough that his fur color was so off, if he seemed too complacent...he really didn't want her to find out it was him.

So he hissed and pulled his paw away. He made it as hard as possible for her to wrap up his paw with the familiar white gauze, and eventually she gave up.

"Fine," she muttered, exasperated, "I get it, I'm a strange human and you don't know what I'm doing, but I can't fight with you any longer." She glared down at him, "If I don't get Julius his coffee soon, he's going to wonder what's taking me so long, and he highly disapproves of pets. For now, you win, but make no mistake, when I return, that paw is getting bandaged."

And with that, she stood up, and stormed out of the room, closing the door behind her.

He didn't get to listen to her heartbeat any more, but he _was_ in her bed. Well, it was likely that she had been up for a quite a while, as three time periods had already passed just on their way back to the Tower. He decided he would take a nap, and see what happened when he awoke.

/*\

The not-wounded cat was roused from his slumber the sound of a clicking door. It was a night period, and Alice had finally returned to her room. Boris was excited. He knew how much Alice liked cats, and he was hoping that she might decide she wanted snuggles. Before that though...he froze.

Alice had turned on the lamp and locked the door. This in itself did not strike him as a strange occurrence, but he couldn't stop himself from panicking a little. He needed to stop looking, now!

Why was she taking off her clothes?!

/*\

As soon as Alice had changed into her nightdress, she checked in with her patient, still snoozing on the bed, looking up at her with bleary eyes. When she had first seen the unusual coloring of the animal's fur, her first instinct was to suspect Boris of another prank. He was the only pink cat she had ever seen. However a quick examination had proved this theory wrong. The lack of piercings on the ears and tail convinced her otherwise. There were no ornamental rings or studs on any of the appendages, and there were also no visible piercing holes. Maybe pink cats were just a semi-rare occurrence in Wonderland.

She first inspected the cat's paw. The creature was no longer protesting, and so she could see that it's limb wasn't bleeding nor did it look swollen in any way. In fact, the paw was rather soft, completely lacking in any callouses or roughness that might come with living in the wild. A tame cat that escaped home and stubbed it's toe. Hardly fatal, but still very uncomfortable. Satisfied with her diagnosis, she shut off the lamp and then lightly stepped around her latest companion on the bed, and then lastly slipped under the covers. After a moment or two, she started running her fingers through the animal's fur, as it did not seem to dislike her closeness.

"Mm..." she hummed drowsily at the cat, "Your fur is really soft..." And on an impulse, she pulled the cat closer, and to her surprise, it willingly curled up under her chin and started purring. Loudly. Then Alice noticed something.

"Wait a minute..." She trailed off, and then looked the cat in the eye, "Why do you smell like Boris's shampoo?"

The cat's ears flattened. He'd been caught, he was sure of it.

 **/*\**

 **So it would appear that this ended up longer than intended. So I'm going to make it a two-shot instead of a one-shot. R &R! Please! :D**

 **-Static**


	2. Chapter 2

**Because I get to have a 3-day weekend this weekend...MOAR WRITING! AT TWO IN THE MORNING! Also: though not important to the story, I just got my first contact lenses! They're weird, but also quite awesome.**

 **-Static**

 **/*\**

Alice felt the alertness completely drain from her body as the abrupt lifting of her upper half had left her a tad dizzy. She had endured what seemed to be one of the longer days in Wonderland, and had been exhausted to the point that she had debated whether or not she would actually change into her nightdress. Everything felt hazy, with a surreal edge to her vision that let her know that she was viewing the world through sleepy eyes.

As soon as she smelled it, sending her mind into a complete panic, the seeming scent of Boris's hair products faded into nothing. She sniffed the cat again and again, but the soapy smell had vanished, and she was convinced she had hallucinated it. Such things happened when one was tired, and the cat's coloring was all too similar to that of the Cheshire Cat.

Sniffling a little, she apologized to the cat and collapsed back onto the pillows, trying not to squish her new feline companion.

"You know," she murmured, as she pulled the creature close once again. "I absolutely adore cats." She scratched the spot behind his left ear, the way he'd always liked. "Not that I would ever let him know that. He's annoying enough as is." The right ear flattened. Was she talking about him? It could be possible... "But that doesn't make me like him any less." Then she moved to rub circles into the point between his shoulder blades.

The cat wondered how the motion might feel in his human form... No he was pushing his luck enough already. He was in bed with Alice, and she was willingly snuggling with him. There was no fight or coyness or shyness. Just warmth, petting, and that incredible sound reverberating through her chest. Maybe he peeked a little lower once or twice, but that was hardly important. Another matter was starting to weigh on his mind.

She had brushed off his scent, and though his baser instincts might have bristled at such a blatant dismissal of his presence, he also wanted to take advantage. He might look like a man most of the time, but the simple fact of it was, he was not human. Where her drowsy eyes thought he was just being weird, brushing the side of his face against hers, the pillows, the blankets, her shoulders, anyone else would know.

He was marking territory. This girl was _his_.

Anyone with a nose would be well aware of it. His scent all over her and her room...the assumptions they would make...it would be a dream come true if it wasn't for the fact that she would kill him for it.

But then he could at least die happy.

It wasn't long until Alice fell asleep, her fingers gradually slowing, and eventually stopping. True, he was slightly disappointed by the loss of the petting, but he _was_ rather warm, and comfortable, and closer than he ever thought he'd have gotten to the Foreigner in such a...vulnerable state.

When she slept there was none of the wariness or fear or strain in her expression. Her face was simultaneously blank and content, a small smile revealing itself in her sleep as she unconsciously hugged the cat closer, liking the warmth he provided. She was always on the defensive with the Role-Holders, because in one way or another, they would not stop attacking her. Blood with his ludicrous insults, Ace with the promise of his lust, the threat of the Twins one day mutilating her, Gowland with his awful compositions, and Boris...Boris with his unwavering desire of her company. The only person who didn't put these pressures on her was the Clockmaster. Boris was pretty sure that was why she lived with him.

It wasn't uncommon knowledge within the Amusement Park that the cat had a fixation on the Outsider, one that manifested itself in a way that was a bit more than friendly. He had always known she liked cats, as much as she tried to hide it, so on the days he was feeling more considerate, he would be careful to swivel his ears a great deal more than normal, or flick her arm with his tail. To show her that he was more cuddly than ferocious (though only for her). To make himself seem as nonthreatening as possible.

Yet it never worked. She was still always on the defensive with him, just like with everyone else. He wasn't different, not to her.

At first he wanted this prank to be secret, but as he got warm and comfortable, and her scent was starting to mingle pleasantly with his own...he drifted off to sleep.

/*\

When the cat awoke, he realized that there were orange blurs behind his eyelids, and they were getting brighter and brighter by the second, to the point that it was almost painful. He knew instinctively that it was the sun, and that it was getting, really, really annoying. He attempted to pull the covers up over his head and roll onto his other side, but found himself prevented by...something laying on top of him? No, not something, some _one._ His eyes shot open.

Had an enemy really gotten into his room unnoticed?! He made to move for his gun when he saw that there was no assailant. He wasn't even in his own tiny apartment back in the Park. This was the Clock Tower. The events of the previous time-periods came flooding into his mind once more, and he recalled falling asleep next to Alice.

Alice, who was quite solidly snuggled into his chest.

Boris would be lying if he said that this development did not please him. Here he was, with the girl of his dreams, in nothing but her nightwear, in bed with him. Sure, they appeared more intimate than they actually were, but right now, the mere image was enough to give the cat his satisfaction. To any onlooker, it would look as though she really _were_ his, and in all the ways that he had come to want.

Alas, though he might have been happy to stay that way all day, there was no telling when the girl might wake, and with him being in his human form, he would not be a welcome sight. He had gotten what he wanted, and so could conclude his game.

Lightly, Boris rolled Alice off of him, on her side, facing away from the sun. He realized that the window was on the other side of the bed, and because the mattress was pressed right up against the sill, he thought that attempting one such exit might not be the brightest of ideas.

If Alice woke up he was done for.

He stepped to the bedroom door, and silently crept out, shutting the door softly behind him. The doorknob clicked with little to no sound, and the most dangerous part of his escape was finished. The Clockmaker, though cold and precise, was not an attentive person. He cared about the clocks more than anything else, and so as long as Boris steered clear of his office, he would have no trouble sneaking out of the Tower.

/*\

The cat had been doing oh so very well. He was creeping down the hallways, as silent as a feline could be, and he could hear the ticking of the timepieces and the occasional grunt and swear of the Clockmaker. He was fully engrossed in his task, and so the predator stalked past his office on the echoing floors with all the ease in the world. He had stepped silently across the stone bricks of the Tower, completely and entirely undetected, and the moment the double doors of his exit came into full view, they exploded inwards with the intruder's ridiculously happy voice.

"Juuuuuliuuuus!" Ace called dramatically up the stairs, sounding just the tiniest bit drunk and adorning his forever-bloodstained cloak, "Guess who brought more clocks?" That was when he finally took notice of the cat, who was standing stock still in front of him.

All of that...

To be caught by the f*cking _knight_?!

"Oh," crimson eyes examined the cat in a mixture of curiosity and surprise, and the look soon melted away into a deceptively friendly smile, "Hey there kitty cat, what brings you here?"

"That's not really any of your business." Boris growled, not feeling the least bit civil. He had been so close to getting what he wanted. So _close,_ and it definitely didn't help that Ace was not the least bit compassionate. The knight raised an eyebrow.

"Aww, you're not being very nice today. I was just curious..." As Ace moved to walk past the cat, other priorities started to cloud his mind, when he noticed something on the cat's shirt. "Wait a second," He placed a hand on the other Role-Holder's shoulder. "What's this?" and he plucked something off of the soft black cloth. It was a thread of long, golden hair. Ace studied the strand in his grasp, and something in his smile turned dark.

"Were you here visiting Alice?" the knight questioned, his voice no longer cheery, though still polite.

"Like I said," Boris stated, stepping for the door again, "It's none of your business."

"On the contrary," Ace stated, "If Alice is choosing to hang around other men..." He trailed off. Boris did not like where this was going. It was common knowledge that Ace was crazy. The thing about this man, though, was that he didn't actually _seem_ crazy. Not until it was too late. More often than not, the knight was actually quite nice, helpful in any way he could be. However, one wrong move, one off word...

And he would slice his conversational partner into ribbons. Ace, unlike the Hatter, reigned in his insanity, kept it in check, and only let it loose a handful of times, entirely by his own will.

Now, that shift between the facade and the psychopathy was slipping, and that made Boris nervous.

"I don't like that." the knight finally decided, "I know I didn't like her as much as the rest of you, when she first arrived, but I've made up my mind." He stated. "I want the chance, and that can't happen if I've got others in my way."

Ace wasted no time in drawing his sword.

/*\

 **Alright...so maybe this will be a 3-shot. xD Please leave a few more reviews!**

 **-Static**


	3. Chapter 3

**I have no idea how to finish it. So I'm gonna wing it.**

 **-Static**

 **/*\**

When the girl opened her eyes, something felt...strange. Subconsciously she knew that something was wrong, but for the moment, she simply had the odd feeling of deja vu. Like she'd done this before, yet something was distinctly different.

She blinked a few times into the random sunlight, and then gazed across the wide expanse of her bed. What was missing?

Oh! Right, the cat. Where was the cat?

/*\

Ace swung the sword down onto his opponent's head. The Knight was certain that the stone floors of the tower would be stained with blood, bone shards, and other assorted bits of gore in less than several seconds. However, he was not so lucky. At the last moment, the Cheshire Cat had managed to dodge, and even lashed out with a fist so fast and at such a close range, he almost managed to hit Ace.

Almost.

As good as kitty-cat was, the Knight of Hearts was better. There was a reason he could survive with a blade and not a gun. There was a reason people feared him even over the Hatter.

There was a reason that the Foreigner herself was oh so very careful not to let him get her alone.

Kitty-cat was the only boy - no, not boy, he'd earned the title of man - to oppose him so blatantly and so honestly. He cared for Alice, and in a way he was special, to the knight's chagrin. He didn't just humor her strange otherworldly customs, but he understood them. He understood why she thought the way she did and he was the only one "kind" enough to change his ways to make her more comfortable. However, this was also what made him weak.

Yes, he did his best to understand her, but she had never tried to understand _him_.

Any of them.

And he had been alright with that. He let her walk all over him, and even Ace knew that was more than unjustified. She could not simply demand that the entirety of Wonderland change just because she was a bit squeamish. She had to learn to accept and respect their reality, if she wanted them to respect the fact that she really was different.

And so Ace swung again, this time catching Boris across the face. To his disappointment, the wound was superficial, but there was still a bit of red dripping from the cut, and it was bothering the cat to some degree. That counted for something.

Interestingly enough, though all of this, the cat had yet to draw his gun. However, it looked as though the Knight had pushed him to some sort of limit. Once they broke away from one another, the feline didn't even seem the least bit human, despite his appearance. He wasn't yelling out defiances nor was he calm or collected. In fact, he was breathing heavily with his teeth bared. His eyes had opened wide, his giant pink muffler gone. His nails had morphed into something more akin to claws, and his ears laid flat against his hair. His pupils had narrowed to needles, his tail lashed back and forth, and his voice rang out through the hallways as the deep sound of growling filled the entryway of the Clock Tower.

Ace felt rather pleased with himself. It wasn't often that the animals let go of their humanesque facade.

It was all too entertaining when they did.

/*\

Alice was panicking. Her cat was gone. Had it somehow managed to escape the room? She felt it couldn't be possible. She had locked her door and the window wasn't open. Yet if somehow, it had managed to gain access to the rest of the tower...

She would be in _so much trouble_ if Julius found out that she'd been smuggling animals into the Clock Tower. He did not like pets. If it threatened to interfere with work in any way, it was banned, and adorable animals were very much on that lengthy list, and for some reason, they were one of the things the Clockmaker hated most.

She really did not want to get thrown out of the only safe place in Wonderland.

After tearing apart her room three times over, it became abundantly clear that her newest friend had wandered off somewhere, but Alice didn't know how. The window was shut with the latch connected, and she was positive that the door was equally sealed. Stepping lightly over her scattered clothing, and pushing a few stray books and trinkets under her bed, she walked to her door, and immediately cracked it open.

Why wasn't it locked?

Maybe she had imagined securing the door? She had been awfully tired...but either way the cat should not have been able to get out. It would have had to be the size of a human in order to reach the doorknob.

But then, she had only seen one pink cat in her life before.

One pink cat that smelled like shampoo.

She had been convinced that her new pet was nothing more than an animal that had run away from home. It was mistrusting and entirely lacking in body modifications and yet...

The new evidence clearly stated that she was excruciatingly wrong.

Alice's eyes narrowed, and she searched for a clean dress. As much as she liked her blue smock, it was starting to smell with daily wear.

No thank you.

As soon as she was presentable, she marched out of her room, and as quietly as possible, stormed to the front of the tower. The moment she made it to town, she was going to make some inquiries as to the whereabouts of a man dressed in pink and black.

/*\

The minute the Knight's sword caught Boris in the face, the cat felt his mind go hazy. The moment that light, unexpected pain lashed across his cheek - way too close to his visible eye - his thoughts froze. He completely forgot what he was thinking about, and blinked several times, trying to make sense of his immediate situation. He found himself viewing surroundings that, though familiar, now lacked a name. He was facing a man he knew, but couldn't place. He thought about asking the man what was going on when he swung...a giant sword? Through the complete blank out he could only be sure of one thing. This man was an enemy. He was in danger, and as a result, he needed to defend himself through any means necessary. It was what his instincts demanded of him.

This had only ever happened once before.

The cat completely ignored his gun, not because he was unaware of it, but rather...

He didn't need it.

In the manner of something not quite human (it was common knowledge that he wasn't) he utilized a weapon he had all but forgotten.

The claws tipping each and every one of his fingers.

It wasn't often that a human could provoke an animal to lose it's...humanization. Humanoid creatures of all races were taught the exact same rule from the moment they could comprehend words.

Keep yourself under control. Live by human rules and laws, because you are just as intelligent as they are, but more powerful in varying ways. Coexisting in this world is hard enough, until more tensions diffuse, the races needed to be able to find an immediate middle ground. Humans don't have the same connection to nature as the rest of them, so they could never hope to understand their world in full. They would have to have manners, be well-learned, and sophisticated. They couldn't let their baser instincts rule them as they did for their cousins in the wild. There could be no behavioral reminders that they were different, because they were the minority. However it was still important that they cling to that difference, because it reminded them of where they came from.

The control was the balance.

Since he was an infant, Boris knew that he needed to keep this side of himself suppressed. All the animals did. His parents, his sister, Peter White, even the Hatter's Hare. The control had to be so perfect that they could be mistaken for human beings even in spite of certain physical traits.

And now it had slipped.

When Boris attacked now, it was not with a gun or blade, but rather tooth and nail. At this moment, he was no longer a person, and Ace was no longer fighting a cat.

He was fighting a being that held the evolutionary benefits of both human and feline with zero of the drawbacks. The Knave of Hearts was fast, but in spite of being - technically - a house cat, Boris wasn't like a rabbit or a hare. By the laws of nature, he was a predator, and because of this, he ended up being so fast and so strong that any pure human - even the Knight of Heart Castle - was left at a complete disadvantage.

For the first time in his life, Ace found himself entirely on the defensive.

/*\

When Alice arrived at the bottom of the stairwell, she was confronted with a sight that terrified her to no end.

Boris - the very object of her immediate anger - was facing off against Ace. For one horrible moment, images of red and bandages and shallow breathing and near imminent death flashed across her eyes. She remembered what had happened to the cat the last time the Knight had taken a shot at him. As Alice watched a little more, however, it was soon made clear that the standoff itself wasn't the terrifying part. The Cheshire Cat...there was something a little off about him, his actions. He wasn't himself. Where he might be snarling insults or shooting bullets in a normal battle, this time...

He was growling.

Such sounds were familiar to Alice, she had heard Dinah growl plenty of times, when Edith might try to tie a bow around her neck, or when Alice would attempt to get rid of her "gifts" of dead birds and mice. However, Boris's voice was far deeper than Dinah's and so resembled a different sort of creature all together. In fact, it brought up a memory, one from when she was seven years old. Her parents had taken her to the circus. Just her. Edith hadn't been born yet, and Lorina had been staying with their grandmother in the country. It had been one of the rare and exciting occasions that Alice had gotten one-on-one time with her parents, and it was a pleasant memory.

If one excluded the last part of the event.

The exact same baritone snarls had emanated from a tiger's throat before it had lunged one of it's paws through the bars of the ten-by-fourteen cage and mauled it's trainer.

Her father had been sure to get her and her mother out of there before either woman saw the blood.

Alice had always known on an intellectual level that, despite certain appearances, Boris wasn't a human. Not the way she was at least. He had always been sure to make that clear to her. With flicks of his tail on her arm, or the exaggerated swiveling of his ears on occasion.

 _I like you, but we are not the same._

He was sweet, but he was a cat, and now he was more akin to a beast than a cuddly pet as she watched him pummel Ace into the ground.

It was all the knight could do to keep from being slashed to ribbons as Boris's claws clashed again and again into the steel of Ace's claymore. Each time the cat failed to land a hit, he would hiss through his teeth, and his tail would lash violently.

Eventually, Ace started to tire, and gave his opponent an opening.

"Gah!" He gasped, dropping the sword and backing into the wall. Had...had Boris actually injured him?!

Who would have thought the knight had left the cat half-dead just six months ago?

Boris still hadn't snapped out of his strange episode it seemed, and was approaching the knight, who was still shell-shocked from having actually been wounded. The cat growled and lifted a bloody hand, and with a sudden dawning horror, Alice realized what he intended to do.

He was going to kill Ace.

"Boris!" she shrieked, and that startled both men out of their stupor. Boris stared at her blankly, as if trying to recall just who, exactly, she was. Then Ace spoke up,

"Oh," he blurted, and then sheepishly grinned as he clutched his bleeding stomach, "Hey Alice, how's it going?"

 **/*\**

 **...Four chapters. This is going to be four chapters. How did this end up so** _ **long**_ **? But yes! Finals are finally over (see what I did there?) however I am not entirely out of the woods yet. Yes, I finished the year with straight A's (woohoo!) but because a ton of people are coming over for my graduation ceremony, I have to spend the next few days cleaning. So I probably won't get to write as much as I'd like until this week is over. But please, let me know what you thought of this chapter! :D**

 **-Static**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello again, graduation is over AND EVERYONE HAS LEFT! Do you know what that means? Free time. And what does free time mean? More writing. If you were so kind as to write a short review, it will not go unappreciated! :3**

 **-Static**

 **/*\**

One moment, he was going to slash the hostile's throat, and the next a high, feminine voice rang out.

"Boris!"

Immediately he had turned. Was there another enemy? How had she snuck up on him? He whirled, crouching low and getting ready to attack, when he saw her face.

Widened eyes stared into his own, though he could tell she was not challenging him. As the cat looked at her, he could only come to one conclusion: She was beautiful, and he definitely recognized her, though he couldn't quite manage to pair the girl with a name.

After breaking the eye contact, the first thing he had noticed about her was the sparse state of her clothing. She looked as though she was about to head out into the town, despite the fact that she wore nothing but a small purple nightgown, and so that gave him a great deal of insight as to what her body might look like. Her legs were long and slender, the shadow of her waist looked small, and her skin was clear and flawless. Her golden bronze hair fell to her waist, and she tried to take a subtle step back, though he observed her every move. Her bright aqua eyes were wary, and she was half concealed behind a corner, in front of a faint light.

It wasn't until he caught her scent - wonderful, she smelled of spice and chocolate and some other amazing thing that he couldn't name - that he realized...she was afraid.

"Oh," the bleeding man on the floor suddenly blurted, "Hey Alice, how's it going?"

That was when it clicked. Of course, only one thing could have caused the stench to mar that pretty smell.

The swordsman in the bloodstained cloak had frightened her.

He was going to cut the man down, show "Alice" - that definitely triggered a sense of deja vu - that she was safe. He would kill the smiling lunatic quickly and approach her slowly, carefully. His instincts demanded that he reassure her. It suddenly felt quite imperative that he carry out this strange yet appealing thought process, but as he raised his claws in preparation, she had dashed forward in front of him. He was momentarily puzzled, and then realized that...

She was fussing over the man covered in red. She was attempting to save him. He wasn't sure why, but he felt a momentary pain in his chest.

This girl, the one that appeared so magnificently familiar and safe...

She was an enemy too.

/*\

When Alice had come across the situation she had wanted to run away. After watching the cat beat Ace into the ground, she felt the intense need to go help. She had come to love all of her friends in Wonderland, even the man who had wanted to shoot her in the face just a few months ago. She could not sit idly and let him die, so when Boris had raised his claws, well, she had to dash forward, act as a shield.

Boris would never hurt her.

/*\

Though being wounded was not a condition the Knight appreciated, he discovered that there were perks to the situation. Sure, it was painful and he detested the sticky feeling of the blood...

However, he was fairly certain that Alice would never straddle his lap under any other circumstance.

Just as kitty-cat was about to land the final blow, she had darted forward and leaped on top of him, and though the impact had left his side throbbing, he bit back the hiss of pain. Her legs had spread out over his hips, her knees balancing on the floor. Her arms had laced around his neck and forced his face into her neck. Her chin rested on top of his hair, and she turned to look at his assailant, giving him the perfect opportunity to press his ear up against her chest. Still clutching his bleeding side, he wrapped his free arm snugly around her waist.

He wasn't interested in letting this chance slip.

/*\

Alice looked up to her pet cat of just a few hours, and she pleaded with him.

"Boris, please don't kill him." He only tilted his head in confusion.

"Why not?" He asked, his voice sounding strained, "He tried to kill me first. In fact, you're defending him, perhaps I should kill you too."

That completely knocked the breath out of her. Wait. Boris...was going to kill her too? No way, this had to be some kind of trick. He had promised that he would not ever hurt her...

Looking up at him now, she saw that this was no trick. His amber pupils looked dead, entirely devoid of humor or any other emotion. His face rested in a serious frown, and his lip raised slightly in a soft snarl. His ears were flattened and his tail lashed violently.

No, this wasn't a joke.

He was really going to kill her.

As he raised his claws up, she squeezed her eyes shut and looked away, cowering into Ace's hair. She knew she was doomed, Ace would never save her. In fact, she wagered he would get a certain amount of satisfaction from her death. She couldn't run away, she was in too awkward a position, and even if she could, she doubted she'd make it more than a few feet.

She had no other choice than to accept the fact that she was going to die at the hand of her best friend.

Her body tensed, waiting for the impact, but instead of the striking pain of claws, she felt something else.

An arm wrapped around her back, and she could feel a hand make itself at home in an _exceedingly_ unwelcome spot.

She was _not_ interested in this. She would be damned if she was going to die whilst being groped.

/*\

The cat stared down through his red haze in complete and utter confusion. The girl had been embracing the man and then...started pushing him away. He lowered his claws and tilted his head, studying the situation that seemed oddly familiar. He had seen the girl show this kind of disgust before, but where? He watched her, trying to piece together just what was going on here.

"Stop that!" She cried, trying to back away. Instead the bloody man only held her closer.

"Ah, ah, ah, Alice," He crooned, "You are the one who threw yourself at me, after all." His arm wrapped around her like a vise. Then something shiny placed itself on the other side of her waist, causing her to still.

Wait a second...

The object was placed very lightly against her skin, ensuring that the tiny bit of fearful shaking would not cause it to hurt her. However it was very clear that he would have no issue utilizing his position and stabbing her.

It was clear she was scared, the stench of fear was clogging he entirety of cat's nostrils but at the same time...he could detect something else as well. She was angry. Furious. The cat was fairly certain that if the girl got the opportunity, she would mercilessly kill him for the disrespect he showed her now.

The bloodstained man was holding a dagger to the girl's waist, and she looked up to the cat, a mixture of hope and despair battling in her eyes.

 _Help me get away from him, please!_

He was contemplating his next course of action when the stranger started talking once more, leaning his face in close to "Alice's".

"Alice," He murmured in her ear, "Tell me, throughout all of Wonderland, who is it that you prefer?" She froze, and her scent took on an air of perplexity.

"What?" She breathed, trying to regain composure.

"I suppose my question was a bit vague," he laughed, as though they were conversing over tea rather blood and knives and claws. "What I mean is, out of all the men you've met so far, of all the people you have made attachments with, who is it that you fancy?" In spite of the threat of imminent death, the girl gave him a queer look.

Fair enough. He was bleeding to death and now he was threatening to fatally stab his only ally...over her love life?

Even for Wonderland that was fairly odd.

"Why would you want to know?" she asked, entirely puzzled.

"Because," he answered easily, "I've made up my mind about something." He pressed the knife closer, nearly slicing through the fabric of her nightgown, causing her to lurch into his shoulder as she shied away from the sharpened steel. "In the Foreigner's Game, it is all but necessary for him or her to choose a lover." He moved so that his nose was barely touching hers, as though he might kiss her any moment. "I know I didn't like you as much as everyone else when you first showed up but...I've decided that I want to be the first choice." Though the cat couldn't see, her scent started to turn in a different direction, more uncertain. She didn't know how to react.

"...Hypothetically speaking," she answered hesitantly, "What if you're not?" Then she let out a cry of pain as the knife was driven ever-so-slightly into her side.

"Then I'll have to kill you." He answered, his voice loosing it's cheerful edge. "I don't much like the notion of seeing you with someone else. It's me or nothing." He growled, keeping the dagger firmly implanted in the shallow cut on her side.

He was crazy. The cat knew it and the girl knew it, but she...she was no longer afraid. As she jerked and thrashed and cried out, her feet slipping in the ever-growing blood puddle, the look on her face was definitely not fearful. The way she glared at that man...so full of rage and hurt and anguish...

It made the cat remember something.

 **/*\**

 **Know what? I give up. This is going to be it's own story with it's own thing going on. I tried to do justice to Dark Ace, but I don't think it worked out very well. I just played on the whole yandere thing (because that's how those guys roll right? They're freaking crazy. They take out the competition and, if the object of their affections does not return their feelings, they'll kill them too right?) So...I tried. x.x Let me know how that worked out.**

 **-Static**


	5. Chapter 5

**Heeeeeyyyyyy. How's it going? I actually had this written for a couple days now, I just kept forgetting to edit it. xD**

 **-Static**

 **/*\**

The dagger sunk deeper into her side, making the blood flow just a little bit faster.

 _Dear God, what have I gotten myself into?_ Then the pain continued to get sharper and sharper.

"Ace, stop!" Alice eventually shrieked, unable to hold out any longer, "It hurts!" And though she began to struggle and hit and scream, Ace showed no indication of answering her request, and then suddenly, his hold around her waist tightened that much more.

"Relax Alice," he murmured, "If you keep struggling, you very well could die." He was right. She knew he was right. She fought the instinct to flee, and turned her face away. Though she wanted to let the tears in the corners of her eyes fall...

She wouldn't grant this bastard the satisfaction. Careful of the knife buried one inch into her side, she moved, staring back at him.

"Why?" She growled, "All of a sudden, you decide you want me, after saying countless times that you 'Don't like me all that much.' What made you change your mind?" And as her small hands fisted in his jacket, as she looked down at him with narrowed eyes, the Knight could not help but to feel genuinely impressed,

The Foreigner, the one person who railed against death with all her being, who had been frantically kicking and screaming not moments before...she stared down at him not with fear, but a rage so potent it made even him feel a bit wary. Nice.

As Alice glared at her assaulter, he laughed softly, and actually had the audacity to kiss the tip of her nose, as if this was the playful banter between lovers. If one could ignore the dagger so close to killing her, the interaction could almost be thought of as innocent and cute. Nothing to have anyone worried at all.

Alice had never felt more infuriated in her life.

"Because," he answered slowly, gently, like he was making an ill-fated attempt to soothe her anger, "Remember that 'incident' six months ago? When I decided I was going to kill you and changed my mind?" The girl slowly nodded,

"Yes..."

"Well, I've found myself revisiting the idea. I like the notion of taking your life, but as I said," his fingers reached up and ghosted to the side of her neck, just over her pulse, "I would miss listening to your heart, and then a thought struck me." His hand dropped back to her waist, his fingers digging so hard into her skin it was sure to leave bruises. He didn't continue.

"Explain." Alice snarled.

"Huh? Sorry, lost my train of thought," He stated sheepishly, "As I was saying, I had a thought. Maybe, I don't necessarily have to kill you in order to make the Queen acknowledge my disobedience. I just have to make you _mine_." And with that, his lips brushed across the skin of her cheek, a gesture that - under any other circumstance - might have been thought of as loving. Alice did not permit herself to flinch.

"...I don't follow." He hummed in understanding,

"That's right, I explained it to kitty-cat over there, not you." And his gaze momentarily flickered to Boris - why wasn't the cat _doing_ anything? He'd tried so hard to defend Alice last time - and then back to the girl. "The Queen, she knows. She knows I want out, and she knows that I'm directly defying her, but she refuses to call me out. As long as I have the disguise - which I unfortunately need - she won't let me go, so I was going to resort to the next best thing: killing you." The girl raised an eyebrow. This wasn't exactly news to her.

"And?" He chuckled,

"It's rude to interrupt." He chastised, smiling far too sweetly, "I was going to kill you, but you managed to change my mind. You were right, I never wanted you dead, not really, but I wasn't lying when I said it would be interesting to see what would happen. Then, I figured out something else. Something that would both allow the irreplaceable you to live _and_ let me take you away from the other Role-Holders." He buried his face into her hair. "If you become my lover, then the Queen won't get to have you, and if she expresses jealousy in any way similar to the Hatter - and I have reason to believe she does - then that just might do it. You're the key to losing the Role. So, what will your answer be?" With that, he pressed his lips to her forehead, and then turned his gaze to her own, clear certainty resonating through the crimson irises, while pain flickered in the reflection of Alice's topaz.

Why would he have doubts? Even Ace would know which was the smarter decision.

 _Love me, or die._

More than that though, Ace's connecting of Blood and Vivaldi's behavior...he couldn't know, could he? It made the panic spike through her body. There was no way he knew about the Dupre siblings. They were the most careful people that Alice had ever met...and somehow...

She couldn't shake the feeling that he was aware.

As she had been lost in these musings, Ace had gotten impatient. He moved the knife, and listened to her small wince of pain. She suspected he felt certain that the outcome would definitely be in his favor.

"There's a flaw in your plan." She growled through the pain.

"And that is...?"

"Your interpretation of the Queen's feelings for me. We are friends, nothing more. Besides, we're both women. I'm fairly certain that she is not...of that persuasion."

"I wouldn't be so sure." He responded, "You hear the way she talks about men, and even if she was as straight as a board, the rule is that the Role-Holders must fall in love with the Foreigner. If anyone's the exception, it's you." To this, Alice remained silent, and so Ace asked his question. "So Alice, what will your answer be?"

She searched desperately for an out but...she was in so much pain. Her side throbbed violently and the blood loss was making the world spin. She couldn't think, she had nothing.

"Fine." She all but whispered, "Fine, you win." She felt Ace remove his hand from her waist, and then the pull of cloth under her. He retrieved something from one of his jacket pockets, and removed the knife, quickly placing something else over the wound. A wad of bandages.

Then he pulled her face close, and she let the tears fall freely. She couldn't believe she was actually letting him kiss her. This man didn't love her. He wanted to be with her to achieve a goal, nothing more. Under any other circumstance, she might be inclined to slap him as hard as she could but...

Ace was clearly holding the upper hand, and this time he was _not_ playing around. As she felt his hand climb up her back to tangle in her hair, while the other worked to stop the bleeding, she was surprised how much it hurt her heart. She didn't want love, not from one of the most dangerous and unstable people she knew, but still...why didn't _she_ get to have it? From a nice person, who wanted her for _her._ She wanted to be seen as the end goal, not the stepping stone.

After all was said and done, and as selfish as the thought was, Alice felt that she deserved her happy ending, however...

At this rate, she wasn't going to hold her breath, and resigning herself to her fate, let Ace continue.

Then a voice, belonging to someone Alice had thought to be, well, incapacitated, began to snarl.

" _Get your filthy hands off of her!_ " The voice boomed.

Perhaps there was hope after all.

/*\

" _Get your filthy hands off of her!_ "

Julius jerked up, the cramp in his neck sending his mind reeling. Hadn't he...hadn't he just fixed fifty clocks? Wasn't he supposed to be done? Apparently not. As he looked down at his desk, and surveyed his supplies, he saw the inventory box still near full, many of the spare parts, still disassembled. He sighed and let his face fall back to the desk momentarily. So much for his progress.

 _Alice will never let me hear the end of it._ He thought, resigned, sitting back up and retrieving his tools. _She'll carry on about how I need to take better care of myself and get more sleep..._

But of course, none of that was actually practical. He knew that the Foreigner meant well. He knew that she cared about him, which was a lot more than he could say for other people, but at the same time, she had no concept. She had no idea how many clocks he actually had to fix. He received well over seventy of the things per day, whether they came from customers, afterimages, or Ace.

Wait. Ace?

"But didn't you hear?" A deceptively innocent voice sounded, from the tower's entrance it seemed, if his hearing was right, "She said yes. She's mine." Then a snort of derision.

"Not 'yes', 'fine', and even then, I'm pretty sure it was only because you threatened to _kill_ her if she said no."

Kill her? Who was "her"?! Momentary silence, and then,

"Alice?" Julius had a bad feeling. A very bad feeling, and it only got worse when she did not answer. After seconds of pause, a small, feminine squeak sounded.

A pained squeak.

Immediately, the Clockmaker shoved away from his desk, and took the stairs two at a time. He'd been worried that this might happen. He knew how Ace was, how he could get. Underneath his impeccable composure, he'd been absolutely terrified that Ace might one day snap and take out his anger on the Clock Tower's guest, while Julius was otherwise occupied or unable to intervene.

Now, it seemed as if one of his worst fears had been realized.

 **/*\**

 **It would appear as if Julius finally decided to enter the fray! It's okay Julius. We know how dedicated you are to your work...And what's this? Is Ace really so insightful as to make the connection between the Hatter and the Queen?**

 **But yes, it's 2 AM once more, and please, please,** _ **please**_ **leave a review or two if it suits you.**

 **-Static**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey. How's it going? Been a while. :3**

 **-Static**

 **/*\**

When Julius made it down the stairs his clock stopped, and a red haze clouded his vision. To say that Ace had screwed up was an understatement. Ace had seriously fucked up, and Julius was not going to let it slide. The Clockmaker was so angry that streams of swears were creating tidal waves in his mind.

Alice, one of the only people he truly gave a damn about, was sitting on top of Ace. Under normal circumstances, this in itself wouldn't have incited the man's wrath so much as his embarrassment and minor amounts of anger. Ace wasn't stupid, but he wasn't socially adept either. It wouldn't have been the first time that Ace had chosen to push himself onto Alice against her will, nor would it have been the first time that Julius had come to her rescue. Though he could definitely win a fight with Julius, Ace always backed down. He always knew the boundaries. He always knew better than to cross the line.

That was, he knew better up until now.

When Julius saw the blood and the knife, he was more than infuriated. When his eyes caught a shimmering glimpse of the tears falling from Alice's face he found himself desperately wanting to pull out his gun, and for once, he gave in to that impulse. For once he thought he might have a chance at winning. After all, though he disliked getting involved, it didn't mean he wasn't perceptive.

He'd noticed that Ace was injured too.

/*\

Boris was too angry for words, but he had to tread lightly. As much as he'd have liked to let his control slip once more and shred Ace to ribbons, the human man was holding all the cards.

Though Ace had put away the knife, it didn't mean he wouldn't take it out again. As long as he was armed and had a wounded Alice sitting in his lap in such a convenient fashion, he was invulnerable.

All the same, he couldn't help but make the protest.

Ace broke off the kiss and Alice turned her head away, grateful for the release. However, the look on Ace's face did nothing to reassure Boris. He looked mildly annoyed, and his fingers flexed a fraction of a centimeter on Alice's waist, resulting in a soft wince they both could still hear. Then that deceptively sweet smile reappeared on his face, his grip loosening just enough for Alice to be comfortable again. At least, as comfortable as she could be.

"But didn't you hear?" He asked lightly, "She said yes. She's mine." And with that he pulled the girl a little closer. His hand was as gentle as could be as he pulled his fingers through strands of her silken hair. He looked down at her with an expression that could easily be mistaken for genuine adoration. He held her gently, and rearranged the bandages so that she didn't bleed out as fast. He wasted no time in disregarding Boris and placing a soft kiss to the girl's temple. The display sickened the cat to his core.

This blatant mockery of affection was intolerable. Although Boris was loathe to say anything that might result in Ace harming Alice, he just couldn't bite his tongue. Whether the fight took place in the evening forest or under the noonday sun at the entrance of the clock tower, it was in his nature to be sarcastic and confrontational. He had to say something.

"Not yes, 'fine', and even then, I'm pretty sure it was only because you threatened to _kill_ her if she said no." Immediately, the facade vanished and Ace's hand balled into a fistful of Alice's hair. His 'sweet' gaze left her face, flickering to the cat in an instantaneous glare.

"Alice?" He asked softly, silently demanding that she defend him. However, in what seemed to be a final sign of defiance, she glared at him out of the corner of her eye and remained silent.

She would not speak for him, and so Ace took further action. His grip on her wound tightened, digging his fingers into her skin until she let herself cry out in pain.

Immediately Boris regretted each and every one of his words.

/*\

Ace liked to think that he was in love. In a world that he found bland and dull, Alice was a bright flash of color in the midst of his black and white universe. She was strange, and she was tiny, and she was weak. And she had somehow managed to get each and every one of the Roll Holders wrapped around her slender fingers.

All but him, that is. At least at first.

As he spent more and more time with her, she had started to get a little bit boring too, but he had found himself surprised by the fact that he did not mind it. Everything was the same, and he always knew what to expect, but he actually took pleasure from this state of sameness. He'd come to the realization that boring hadn't actually been the word he was looking for.

Things with Alice had become routine. Their camping trips and run-ins and everything. He still got to have his adventures with her, but the dynamic had changed. Instead of waiting for a new and fun reaction, he had come to rely on her annoyance and mulishness. Instead of having a shiny new toy, he'd gained a friend.

One that he'd loved to pester, and for almost a year it had stayed that way, until that fateful event one week ago.

That had been the moment he knew. As much as it was fun to toy with her, she had also come to be very important to him. When those men...

He'd come across the group in the forest one day after completing a mission for Julius. A normal time period, nothing strange at all. He'd simply collected the clocks and traipsed silently through the woods until he caught sight of a pale flash of blue out of the corner of his eye. Alice.

He'd decided that he would like to pester her, and cheerfully stepped her way when he saw someone else through the trees. A faceless, more than one, all male.

"C'mon girly," the ringleader snarled, "we just wanna have a little fun. This will only hurt if you make it hurt." The way she'd jumped back, the way she'd cried out in terror, screaming for someone to come save her...it got to him. It really got to him.

Ace didn't go out of his way to kill people. He'd never been able to understand how Alice could mistake his indifference for exhilaration. It wasn't a hobby he enjoyed, it was his Role. He never took pleasure in the task, but it didn't really bother him either.

Not until now.

He wasted no time unsheathing his sword and he killed each and every one of her attackers with a sort of bloodlust that he'd never felt before. He _wanted_ them to die. He wanted to watch as their lives bled out onto the forest floor. He wanted them to regret with all their clocks their decision to even lay eyes on Alice, and he was not shy about letting the entire forest know about it. Each one of the disgusting pigs were cut down before they had the chance to draw any sort of weapon, and not a single one of the bastards had touched her with even a finger.

They were all dead within seconds, and none of the blood staining Alice's clothes was her own. She looked up at him with wide eyes, and he was sure his expression wasn't much different. Only when they were all dead, and no one was left but himself and this bloodstained girl, something had occurred to him.

Down to the point, he'd discovered something, something important. He'd figured out that he was more than capable of something he once thought impossible. Not only could she help him break away from his role but...

Yes, with Alice, he'd be able to do it. He could be confident in himself. He knew that he could be competent.

Ace had discovered that - unlike the only other person he had ever cared about - he could keep Alice safe.

He could protect her.

/*\

Boris was still a little dazed from his 'episode' but that didn't make him entirely unobservant. Though it might have taken a moment or two, he _did_ see the Clockmaker.

He also saw the contorted expression under his excruciatingly long hair.

Boris didn't dare to look at Julius for more than a few seconds. In his weakened state it was clear that Ace didn't know he was there yet. Though he was one of the strongest men in Wonderland, even he wasn't invincible, nor was he omniscient in the manner of the Nightmare. Perceptive, yes, but not omniscient.

Boris watched from the corner of his eye as Julius drew his gun. Good. The Clockmaker was armed. The cat now had an ally, and in this particular instance he trusted Julius wholeheartedly. Right at that moment, the Cheshire Cat and the Mortitician wanted the exact same thing.

To get Alice away from Ace.

So Boris did his best to keep the weakening knight from noticing the other person. Boris crouched slightly and pinned his ears, growling deep in his throat. Alice flinched but he refused to let that faze him. She had never heard him growl, and he wagered that she'd lost so much blood that she couldn't tell up from down. She probably didn't even realize it was him, and thought that a wild animal had somehow made it into the tower.

No, Alice was not in good condition, and that only made him that much more anxious. Boris wanted to be able to protect her, but she was in between him and his enemy, who was not impressed in the least. His attention was not entirely focused on the cat, and that was bad.

Boris had to put on a better show, and he had to mask the sound of Julius's footsteps as he got closer. He let his claws grow back out slightly and let the sound in his throat deepen one pitch, then two, then three, his tail lashing all the while. Ace finally shook a finger at him.

"I wouldn't do that kitty cat," his sing-song voice lilted, "I'm-"

Ace's voice cut off abruptly, the look on his face betraying his shock as another voice cleared itself beside him, catching his attention.

"You're...?" Another voice asked, the tone perfectly neutral. The Clockmaker didn't sound nearly as angry as he looked, and though the expression on his face was entirely impassive and uncaring, everyone knew he was more than a little upset. Boris mentally applauded him.

 _I didn't know he had it in him._ The cat thought to himself appreciatively. And it was true.

The Clockmaker was - for Wonderland - a very peaceful man. He didn't go out of his way to pick fights, and did his best to avoid confrontation with the other Role-Holders. It was a very, very rare sight to see him holding his pistol, especially towards any of the few people he considered himself friends with.

 _He must really love her,_ Boris continued in his head as the other two men stared each other down, _if that pistol is resting just between Ace's eyes._

 **/*\**

 **I'm so mean, finally coming back to this after so long and leaving you with that. How was your day? I hope it was good! R &R! **

**-Static**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hallo. I've recently come to the realization that this is one of my most popular stories, so I figured I'd update it. R &R!**

 **-Static**

 **/*\**

Alice was asleep. Her wound had been cleaned and dressed, but Boris didn't feel any better. Not in the slightest.

 _When Ace had been dealt with Julius had scooped the girl up into his arms. He'd taken her to his office and set her down on the table, leaving her to sleepily clutch at the table, the books, anything she could get her hands on. While he dug out the first aid kit, it had been Boris's job to make sure she didn't pass out._

" _Alice." He would say, loud and clear. Her eyes would open up just a fraction more and he would smile at her. It was straining and not in the least sincere, but she was too out of it to know the difference. Each time he said her name her eyelids would flutter open for a fraction of a second. A faceless servant had brought items from the kitchen, and so each time she looked at him, he would ask her to eat or drink something. She'd take a tiny sip or nibble, and then her eyes would close again. Then they stopped opening. His panic made his voice tense and urgent._

" _Alice," he repeated, trying to stay calm, "you're going to be fine. Julius is getting the stuff to fix you right now." This had actually managed to gain a response._

" _Ace stabbed me." She mumbled indignantly. Boris's face darkened._

" _I know. Don't worry, he's not going to come back for you." She stared at him unfeelingly._

" _Is he dead?" She inquired. For a moment Boris hesitated. He was deciding how to answer when she spoke again. "I don't want him to be dead. He might have been awful today, but he doesn't deserve to die." Before the cat had a chance to respond Julius had taken over. He'd set down a roll of gauze and alcohol. Nothing too alarming._

 _Then came the needle and suture. Alice picked at the bundle of thread and stared nervously at the metal as the Clock Master picked it up._

" _What are you going to do with that?" She asked uneasily. Julius stared at her a long moment. He set the needle down and took her face in his hands and looked her straight in the eye._

" _Alice," he said, his voice as soft and gentle as the cat ever heard him speak, "this is going to hurt. I'm going to need you to be strong."_

 _As Julius prepped the needle and Boris disinfected the wound, she whimpered._

There had been no time to give her any painkillers, she would have died before they were able to take effect. The sounds of her stifled screams and sobs as he kept her still continued to echo in his ears. That was not a sound he would soon forget.

He would have stayed by her side forever, but there was still an issue that demanded attention. Shuddering, Boris turned to the Clock Maker.

"Can I handle this, or should you?"

/*\

Julius had felt awful for the whole thing. He never wanted to be the one to cause Alice physical pain, but it had been his only option. Cause her pain or let her die.

He didn't regret his choice, not at all. He would have saved her again and again, even if it meant listening to her rant about how much she hated him for hurting her. Even if it meant she would be so upset with him that she left and never returned. No, that wasn't where the regret burrowed itself.

He shouldn't have fallen asleep. He had known that Ace would be there soon, and he knew how Ace was.

The young man was very broken, in more ways than one, and he'd gotten the idea that Alice could somehow fix him. Julius could vaguely remember Ace talking about it.

 _It was nighttime. The stars shone brightly and the crickets hummed. Ace had just delivered another bag of clocks. He decided to stick around for a while and he'd watched Julius work in silence. An unusual occurrence, but not unwelcome. After some time had passed, his lips started to move. His voice was soft, almost mumbling. He clearly didn't realize he was speaking aloud._

" _I wonder if she could." The Executioner had mused. His eyes gazed into a broken clock, hazy and unseeing. Normally Julius would let it slip. He wasn't one for conversation, so it wasn't unheard of for Ace to talk to himself. That said, Alice was the only 'she' that Ace ever spoke about, and if he wanted someone to do something it usually did not end well for his unfortunate accomplice._

" _Could_ _what?" The Clock Master asked, twisting in another screw. In his peripheral vision Julius saw Ace jump, his head whipping around and his expression was almost shocked and somewhat guilty. It was the same look a child might have if his mother found him trying to sneak into the cookie jar._

" _What?" He asked. "Sorry, I was just thinking aloud." He laughed, chagrined. To this Julius looked up from the clock. That was new. Ace was never shy about expressing his thoughts, no matter how disgusting or inappropriate they may be. He was only ever careful about things having to do with Alice. Before Julius had the chance to respond, Ace bid him goodnight and vanished._

As he stepped down the many stairs of his home, Julius couldn't stop these thoughts from running through his mind. He had suspected that Ace wanted Alice for something, but he never would have anticipated this.

As he neared the bottom steps, he concealed his reloaded pistol.

/*\

Boris had made himself comfortable.

" _No! Stop! Please! It hurts!"_ She'd wailed. She had been in no condition to keep her emotions under wraps. Her wounds had simply rendered her incapable of staying alert. Once everything was ready she'd been in no state to process a word that Julius had said to her. All she knew was that she was in pain and that somebody was hurting her.

The Clock Master had worked as quickly as possible. They'd needed to cut away a square of Alice's nightgown to see the extent of the damage, and it had sent the girl into a panic. She screeched and screamed and called out for help, but it only made things harder.

She wouldn't stop moving. Her writhing hadn't helped in the slightest, but Boris had been tasked with the duty of holding her down. He hadn't been able to do much – her legs still thrashed wildly – but he'd been able to prevent her from scratching out Julius's eyes as he worked. All the same, they had still needed to bind her legs and tie them down. As weak as she was, the adrenaline had kicked in and she was losing more blood that much faster. If she were to move the wrong way at the wrong moment, it could make things so much worse.

Boris had done his best to calm her down. He'd spoken to her gently, trying to tell her that everything would be okay. They weren't trying to hurt her. They were repairing the worst of the damage that had been done. None of it worked, and though she had weakened considerably, she was still fighting, sweat dampening her forehead and terror gleaming in her eyes.

When Julius had finally finished he'd needed help getting her to sit up. Alice had absolutely exhausted herself, and after a moment or two of relief she had fallen asleep. Boris had propped her up, and Julius had little trouble wrapping the gauze around her waist. Neither party was interested in trying to get her into an undamaged nightgown, so Julius ordered one of the sparse servants to find her fresh clothes.

Once she was decent, he went in to attend her. He made sure she was comfortable, carefully rearranging pillows and pulling the blankets over her shoulders. He moved to leave when her fingers grasped his sleeve. The man chastised her for straining herself, but knelt down anyways. He bent his face towards her to hear what she had to say, and she spoke so softly that the cat couldn't hear a single syllable.

Boris was ashamed of himself for letting the jealousy well up in his chest.

As he sat in the chair, monitoring her breathing and placing cool towels on her forehead, he couldn't stop himself from staring. Her eyebrows were scrunched together and occasionally she would shift, trying to get comfortable, and wince in her sleep.

This wasn't supposed to happen. All he'd wanted was for her to smile at him, with no reservations.

/*\

Ace could hear Julius walking down the stairs. Though he'd been badly wounded it didn't mean his senses were shot. The wound in his stomach had been light. There had been blood but the claw marks were shallow. It was flashy, but it wouldn't keep him down.

No it was the gunshot wound in his shoulder that he was worried about. Blood leaked from it at an alarming pace, and the knight was having difficulty keeping his eyes open.

 _Good thing my uniform is black and red._ He idly thought. _At least the stains won't be noticeable. I'll just need to commission a repair. It'll be good as new._

He heard Julius pause, and then continue. When the steps reached the bottom of the stairs they changed. The rhythm had morphed, and Ace turned his head.

Julius was still angry. That was to be expected. That's just how he was. When he decided to place someone under his protection, he took the duty seriously. Alice had been fatally wounded, on his territory, by someone he trusted.

To be completely honest, Ace was surprised that the Clack Master had allowed him to live.

He clutched at the wound in his shoulder, applying as much pressure as possible, and glared at his employer carefully. What was he going to do? That was when Julius knelt down and produced a pair of scissors.

"Take your hand off." He commanded. "I'll need to cut the cloth away before I can pull the bullet out."

Ace couldn't help but to smile.

/*\

When Alice awoke, she was confused. Her thoughts were murky and every nerve in her body whined when she tried to move. She hurt, but why?

All she knew was that the throbbing pain in her side would keep her bedridden for several days. What the hell happened?

More importantly, didn't she have some painkillers? Her arm reached out towards the nightstand when a voice sounded.

"Whoa," Boris said from the entryway. He looked as though he'd just arrived, and he was holding two glasses of water. "I wouldn't do that Alice. Here, let me." And he walked over to the nightstand. He opened the drawer and presented a small bottle to her. The painkillers. How did he-?

He plopped down into a chair that had been pulled up to her bedside, and he passed her one of the glasses. His hair gleamed violet in the light of day, and his visible eye gleamed. The pupil had narrowed and a small frown marred the purple triangle on his cheek. Alice had opened her mouth to ask questions but Boris had been quick to intervene.

"Take the pills first." She raised an eyebrow challengingly. "Please?" He asked softly. She hesitated, but the look on his face was plenty to persuade her. She popped the pills into her mouth and took a long drink of water. She hadn't realized how thirsty she was. When she finished, she set the glass down and looked at her companion expectantly. In return he gestured to a tray at the foot of the bed. It had a plate of food and a glass of juice. She was a little confused, but found that she was starving. Boris refused to say a word until she'd eaten.

"Do you remember what happened?" He asked when she finished, his voice soft and serious. The longer this went on the more concerned Alice became. She hadn't seen Boris behave this way, ever. He was forever playing tricks and pulling pranks. He was one of the most unworried people she had ever met. For him to look like this, well, it could mean nothing good.

"Sort of," she answered slowly, "I remember walking down the stairs. I was looking for something. I can't recall what though." She paused, her face scrunching up as she tried to pull the memories forward. "I remember you and Ace were there. You were fighting, but I have no idea what about. You hit Ace and you were going to kill him. Then…." Her face fell. She vaguely recalled being pulled into his lap, and then the earth-shattering pain that exploded in her side.

"Then…?" Boris prompted.

"He – Ace – He hurt me, didn't he?" Slowly the Cheshire Cat nodded.

"He did. We took care of it."

"'We'?" He nodded.

"Julius showed up by the time it was almost over. He threa-convinced Ace to stop. He let us take you back to the office. The Clock Master patched you up and put you to bed." She nodded slowly.

"I remember him fixing my covers." Boris nodded.

"I've been keeping watch."

"In case Ace comes back?"

"To make sure you were okay." Her face fell.

"It was that bad?" His eyes left her face, turning towards the floor as he leaned his chin on his hand.

"You almost died." He answered. For a moment she was silent.

"Do you know why he did it?"

/*\

When Julius had finished, Ace stood up. He was feeling shaky. His shoulder burned, every nerve in his body telling him to stop moving. His vision had blurred and he felt the world tilting back and forth. He kept trying to revise his balance, but it only served to help him fall over.

Julius caught him, grabbing him by his hair and holding him up.

Ow.

"When you feel up to it," Julius started, "get out, and don't come back for a while."

"Not even to deliver clocks?" Ace inquired, unable to stave down the urge to prod an irate Clock Maker. Surprisingly, he didn't rise to the bait.

"Not even to deliver clocks." For a moment all was still, then the knight nodded. Julius left him to lean against the stone walls and disappeared back up the staircase.

Ace hadn't paused to think of the repercussions of his actions. He made Julius angry, and so ended up alienating himself from his only safe haven in Wonderland. He would no longer be welcome in the Clock Tower.

Not for a long time.

As soon as his vision cleared and his feet were steady, Ace left.

 **/*\**

 **Well, I hoped you liked it! Leave a review! Please?**

 **-Static**


End file.
